Wave of Momentum: 1 Down, 2 To Go In Vegas For Kyle Busch

What’s Happening?

Fresh off his first win in the No. 8 Camero for RCR last week at the last ever race at the Auto Club Speedway in its current format, Kyle Busch continued his winning habits in Las Vegas.

Last week’s win was, for sure, a statement win, a statement he intends to continue with heading into this weekend at his home track as he shows no signs of slowing down. The 37-year-old NASCAR Veteran took it upon himself to stay busy this weekend, committing to run not one, not two, but all three national series races at his home track on the strip of Las Vegas.

You Need To Know:

• There was a lot of uncertainty heading into the year of 2023 for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM). Following a 15-year association with Toyota, Kyle Busch’s offseason transition to Richard Childress Racing’s (RCR) Chevy lineup trickled down to his property in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as they made the bold move from Tundra to the Silverado.
• The shift manufacturers meant that KBM would lose a lot of their more tenured employees as many of them were outsourced from JGR or TRD. This even included some of his star drivers such as John Hunter Nemecheck as he is going full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JGR. This all but demanded a completely new lineup with Chase Purdy of the No. 4 being the only full-time driver for KBM this season.
• With KFB no longer associated with Toyota and JGR, it seems that fan opinions of the black-hat-wearing Busch have shifted along with him. As he crossed the finish-line first at Auto Club, a chorus of cheers could be heard from the crowd during his front-stretch interview. The same could be said about tonight. It appears that Ole Rowdy has turned over a new leaf and the fans are definitely digging it.

While Kyle Busch Motorsports started the day hot as their namesake driver captured the pole and Chase Purdy and satellite teammate from Rev Racing, Nick Sanchez, all rolled off in the top-3 in tonight’s Craftsman Truck Series race, things were slow to start as one of the 10 teams late to the track due to several flight delays was one belonging to their star owner.

This led to KBM borrowing pit crew members from Busch’s Cup team, Richard Childress Racing’s Xfinity program. The RCR collab team pitting the truck for the first pit stop of the night as the teams finally arrived at the Vegas facility just after 6:30 pm, pst. via police escort.

After things started to settle in following the pre-race delays, Kyle Busch, though he was running in the top-5, was battling a mishandling truck. After a few pit stops from his regular pit crew and some adjustments to the new KBM crew chief and veteran Brian Pattie, Kyle was able to race his bad fast No. 51 Silverado back to the front as he captured the lead and never looked back.

With back-to-back NASCAR sanctioned wins as well as his son, Brexton, making his debut at the Bullring across the street from Las Vegas Motor Speedway, many within the NASCAR industry as well as fans in the stands are wondering: “Can the Busch’s sweep the weekend?”

Well, KFB is certainly off to a great start with his win here tonight. Tomorrow, he will qualify his No. 8 Chevy for the Sunday’s Cup race, will participate in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, driving the No. 10 Camaro for Kaulig Racing where he rolls off in the 11th position, all before heading over to the Bullring, the very track Kyle and his brother Kurt cut their teeth, to coach Brexton during his debut.

The Main Characters

Kyle Busch shut out the doubters last Sunday during the final NASCAR Cup Series race on the 2-mile format of Fontana and he continued the schooling here tonight. It is true what they say: a motivated Kyle Busch is a dangerous Kyle Busch. The dominant performance got NASCAR on FOX thinking…will Busch actually pull off the three-peat sweep at Vegas this weekend?

Kyle also did a short from victory lane, celebrating his second victory in less than a week.

KBM also has a lot to celebrate with that statement victory. Nobody ought to be questioning the restructured team’s ability to find victory lane now.

Around The Garage

Kaulig Racing is amped up for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race! KFB will make his first of 5 starts in the No. 10 Chevy. He rolls off 11th.

Busch’s son, Brexton, prepares for his debut at the Bullring!

In The Stands

KFB’s second win in less than a week sparked some chatter on Twitter. Many fans, such as Smitty WerbenHousecats (awesome name!), think that he’s going to cash out big on the Vegas strip!

Same old same old for CM. Ain’t nothin’ sure in life but death, taxes, and Kyle Busch in victory lane on a Friday night.

Scotty Cody, in response to Black Flags Matter, is still not too happy with someone as naturally talented as KFB going down in the lower series and trophy collecting. Does he have a point?

George Wells has launched a KFB 2024 exploratory committee…

#DingerNation begs a really good question here. Can KFB make history once again after his record-shattering win at Auto Club?

Renee C is very a very happy member of #RoudyNation tonight!

“And here come Kyle Busch with a steel chair!”

On Your Screen

Earlier this week on his podcast, fellow NASCAR driver, Corey Lajoie, begged the question: Is Kyle Busch the G.O.A.T. of NASCAR?

With Busch’s face turn with the fans, are they going to actually root for him to start dominating the lower series? Black Flags Matter host, Darian Gilliam, wonders the same thing.

From The Press Box

Nascarcasm is having fun over here as KFB put a large distance between himself and second-place runner Zane Smith.

With KBM practically being a new team in 2023, Matt Weaver was wondering where the measuring stick would be for the rookie Chase Purdy heading into the new season. He deems that it is pretty high.

Also Read

Next generation of the Busch family to debut at LVMS Bullring | News | Media | Las Vegas Motor Speedway

With KFB’s second win in 5 days out of the way, will he be able to collect his third ever triple sweep? Only time will tell but if you’re in the betting game, I wouldn’t bet against it.